The 38th Anniversary of Hijikata Tatsumi’s Death: Talking together about Hijikata Tatsumi
*This event has ended, but we are still streaming the recording on YouTube. Please click here to view the video.
As in previous years, The Keio University Art Center (KUAC) will hold the titular event in January on the anniversary of the day that Tatsumi Hijikata passed away. This year marks the 38th anniversary of his death.
Sadly, in 2023, several individuals who contributed to the Hijikata Tatsumi Archive over the years also passed away. They include Fumio Tanaya, who was familiar with Hijikata’s life in Akita, as well as Masaharu Kojima and Mamako Yoneyama, who could speak to Hijikata’s life in the 1950s when he was drifting about Tokyo. Thanks to the valuable accounts offered by these three individuals, we were able to glean insights into who he was both before Butoh and in the midst of its genesis.
In September of 1973, Tatsumi Hijikata appeared on stage in a Butoh performance of Quiet House that took place at the Seibu Theater. He followed this up in October with a guest performance in Dairakudakan Temptenshiki’s Yobutsu Shintanat the Nippon Seinenkan Hall. These were the last two times Hijikata would ever take the stage to dance Butoh.
In 2023, Yasuo Kuroda held a photo exhibition at Nonaka Hill in Los Angeles entitled “Tatsumi Hijikata The Last Butoh”. In a way, this “final” Butoh was also the beginning of a new version of the craft for Hijikata. In his words, Butoh that proceeds “one step and then another, life walking by, with the flesh being dragged behind.” A Butoh artist of his caliber ought to have remained on stage.
After his departure from performing, he took up new roles in the world of Butoh in 1974. His contributions took shape in the Butoh spectacles that were a series of performances at the Shinjuku Art Village and Asbestos Theatre. For this event, in 2024, we will reexamine why Hijikata quit performing on stage 50 years prior.
This event, “Talking together about Hijikata Tatsumi” 38 years after his passing, will feature Gozo Yoshimasu as a guest speaker. Yoshimasu’s reputation as a poet precedes him. In recent years, he has remained quietly active, appearing in a series of documentaries. Yoshimasu first witnessed Hijikata dance Butoh at his one-man show Tatsumi Hijikata and the Japanese Rebellion of the Body in 1968, and continued to attend his performances thereafter. In the more than 50 years since, Yoshimasu has continued to spread the word about Hijikata's craft, share about Hijikata’s life wandering the streets, as well as his insights.
We invite you to join us for a discussion with Yoshimasu on January 21, 2024.
-Takashi Morishita
★Flyer：Download
Date
Sunday, January 21, 2024 14:00 start (doors open 13:00)
Venue
Global Research Lab (G-Lab), 6F East Research Building, Mita Campus, Keio University
※ On Sundays, the East gate is closed, so please enter from the Main gate. Thank you.
Audience
Open to everyone / Visitors are welcome to enter and leave the venue at any time
Event will be streamed online (via Zoom Webinar)
Cost
Admission Free
Enquiries and bookings
Ms. Ishimoto, Keio University Art Center Tatsumi Hijikata Archive
Tel: 03-5427-1621 Email: pj.ca.oiek.c-tra@otomihsi
Discussion［Talking together about Tatsumi Hijikata］
Date
Sunday, January 21, 2024 14:00 start (doors open 13:00)
Venue
Global Research Lab (G-Lab), 6F East Research Building, Mita Campus, Keio University
※ On Sundays, the East gate is closed, so please enter from the Main gate. Thank you.
Audience
Open to everyone / Visitors are welcome to enter and leave the venue at any time
Event will be streamed online (via Zoom Webinar)
Cost
Admission Free
Booking
No booking required
Lecturer/Performer
Guest speaker: Gozo Yoshimasu
Gozo Yoshimasu
Born in Tokyo in 1939. Entered Keio University’s Faculty of Letters in 1957. While enrolled at Keio, he joined “Mita Poets” along with Takahiko Okada and Teruo Inoue, among others, and launched the poetry magazine “Drum Can”. His first collection of poems, “Departure,” was published in 1964. His “Anthology of Golden Age Poetry” (1970) won the first Takami-Junsho Prize, a literary award presented to outstanding poets. “Hot Wind: a thousand steps” (1979) won the 17th Rekitei-sho Prize. “Osiris, God of Stone” (1984) won the 2nd Hanatsubaki-sho Prize for Contemporary Poetry. “Helix Songs” (1990) won the 6th Museum of Contemporary Japanese Poetry, Tanka, and Haiku Prize. “‘The Island of Snow’ or ‘The Ghost of Emily’” (1998) won the 49th Geijutsu-Sensho Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Prize. He was awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 2003. “Garden of Gold Gone Blind: Gozo Yoshimasu Exhibition” was held at the Hokkaidō Museum of Literature in 2008. “omote-gami” (2009) won the 50th Mainichi Art Prize. He received The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette in 2013 and was accredited as a Person of Cultural Merit. He also received the Fussa City Honor Award. He was awarded the Imperial Prize and the Japan Art Academy Prize in 2015, and selected as a Member of the Japan Art Academy. “The Voice Between: The Art and Poetry of Yoshimasu Gozo” Exhibition was held at The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, in 2016. “The Echoes from the Abyss: The Poems of Gozo Yoshimasu” Exhibition was held at The Shoto Museum of Art in 2018. The film, “The Reality Behind What We See,” won ten awards at international film festivals. Starred in “‘Se’ - Back” (2022), a film directed by Kei Shichiri. “Voix” (2023) won the first Junzaburo Nishiwaki Award. Received the 6th Yasushi Inoue Memorial Culture Prize (2023). Current president of the “Mita Bungaku,” a literary quarterly magazine.
Timetable
13:00 - Venue opens
14:00 - Performance begins
Discussion about Tatsumi Hijikata and Butoh (Moderator: Takashi Morishita)
15:00 - Presentation by guest speaker
16:30 - Event closes
Enquiries and bookings
Ms. Ishimoto, Keio University Art Center Tatsumi Hijikata Archive
Tel: 03-5427-1621 Email: pj.ca.oiek.c-tra@otomihsi
Organiser(s)
Host: Keio University Art Center (KUAC)
Organizer: Keio University Art Center Tatsumi Hijikata Archive, Portfolio Butoh
Cooperation: Tatsumi Hijikata Asbestos Hall, Butoh Laboratory, Japan
Online （Zoom Webinar）
Please follow the link below to participate.
Link：https://keio-univ.zoom.us/j/82950558445
ID : 829 5055 8445
